Medieval Manuscripts in Cambridge Libraries

A catalogue of Western manuscripts and papyri at Cambridge University Library, the Fitzwilliam Museum and selected Cambridge colleges

Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.9.15

Diktyon no.: Diktyon 11942

Contents

Introduction: This manuscript, probably copied in the third quarter of the 10th century, with replacement portions added in the first half of the 15th, contains the first 33 of the Homilies of John Chrysostom on the Book of Genesis. These form the first half of the sequence of 67 homilies on this book, originally delivered by the Patriarch of Constantinople and leading patristic theologian (d. 407), in 388/389. They are collectively known as the Hexaemeron, from the six days of the Creation, and were among the most frequently copied of Chrysostom's works. They usually followed the standard sequence found here and were typically copied in two volumes, but there was no standard point of division between the volumes. In time parts of the original parchment manuscript were lost, and in the first half of the 15th century replacement text on paper was added to supply the lost content by a scribe named Gerardos or Girardos. This included the final part of the manuscript, containing the last four homilies present here. Since the allocation of homilies to volumes was not consistent, the number of homilies included here was perhaps chosen bring the sequence up to the point where a second volume owned by the patron began. The original part of the manuscript has previously been dated to the 12th century, following the view of M. R. James. However, the style of script clearly places it in an earlier period. The relatively precise dating followed here is guided by the selection of letter-forms found in the text. After the replacement of majuscule script by minuscule for most purposes in the 9th century, majuscule forms gradually crept back into use within minuscule text over the course of the 10th century, and the limited selection found here gives an indication of the point in the process in which the manuscript was probably produced. Peculiarly, one of the homilies in the middle of the manuscript (Homily 20) seems to have been left unfinished by the original scribe, breaking off in the middle of a page of text, on the last folio of a quire composed of six folios rather than the usual eight (f. 185v). The later scribe Gerardos filled in the remaining text of this folio before adding a quire of new folios to complete this homily. The original portion of the manuscript then resumes with the next homily, beginning with a fresh quire. Gerardos is sometimes described as a native of Patras in the north-western Peloponnese, a town at that time under Venetian rule, and had a brother named Stamatios who lived in Modon (Methone), another Venetian possession in the Peloponnese. Gerardos copied a variety of identified manucripts of both Christian and classical texts and his scribal career is believed to have been connected with the circle of the leading Italian humanist scholars Guarino da Verona and Vittorino da Feltre. A number of his manuscripts bear colophons recording the date of completion, but only one of these gives the location, identifying it as having been copied in Mantua, where Vittorino spent most of his career. This is the only evidence of the movements of Gerardos, so it is unclear whether this work is more likely to have been done in Greece or in Italy. Dr Christopher Wright

Language(s): Greek

Physical Description

Form: codex
Extent: Codex: i + 343 + i leaves. 323 × 237 mm.
Foliation: The manuscript is foliated with the numbers [i] + 1-343 + [ii], in Arabic numerals, in black ink, recto, upper right.

Collation

Part I consists of 38 quires (Quires 1-20, 22-24, 26-40), Part II of 6 (Quires 21, 25, 41-44): 1-68, 78-2, 8-128, 138-1, 14-208, 216, 22-238, 24-256, 26-448

Binding

19th-century full leather binding over millboards, with plain pastedowns. The title "Gregorii Nazianzeni Orationes" is tooled in gold on a red leather label on the spine.

345 × 251 × 116 mm.

Both upper and lower joints are damaged and the leather over the sewing supports has almost totally worn away. The tailband is split and partially detached.

History

Provenance and Acquisition

Owned by Richard Bentley (1662-1742) , Master of Trinity.

Bequeathed by Bentley to the College Library after his death.

Part 1 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.9.15, ff. 1-157, 164-185, 192-311]

Contents

Language(s): Greek

John Chrysostom, Homiliae 1-67 in Genesim

Homilies 1-33: ff. 1r-7r Homily 1; ff. 7r-14r Homily 2; ff. 14r-23r Homily 3; ff. 23r-32r Homily 4; ff. 32r-40r Homily 5; ff. 40r-50r Homily 6; ff. 50r-60v Homily 7; ff. 60v-68v Homily 8; ff. 68v-76r Homily 9; ff. 76r-87v Homily 10; ff. 87v-97r Homily 11; ff. 97r-105v Homily 12; ff. 105v-113r Homily 13; ff. 113r-122r Homily 14; ff. 12r-131v Homily 15; ff. Homily 16; ff. 143r-159v Homily 17; ff. 160r-169v Homily 18; ff. 169v-184v Homily 19; ff. 184v-191v Homily 20; ff. 192r-204r Homily 21; ff. 204r-217r Homily 22; ff. 217r-229r Homily 23; ff. 229r-243r Homily 24; ff. 243v-255v Homily 25; ff. 255v-270v Homily 26; ff. 270v-285v Homily 27; ff. Homily 28; ff. 296v-311v Homily 29; ff. 312r-319v Homily 30; ff. 319v-327v Homily 31; ff. 327v-337v Homily 32; ff. 337v-343v Homily 33.

Incipit: f. 1r Χαίρω καὶ εὐφραίνομαι ὁρῶν σήμερον τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐκκλησίαν τῶ πλήθει τῶν οἰκείων τέκνων κοσμουμένην
Explicit: f. 343v τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἀγαθῶν ἀξιῶμεν· χάριτι καὶ φιλανθρωπία τοῦ Κυρίου μεθ'οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ, ἅμα τῷ Ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι· δόξα κράτος τιμή· νῦν καὶ ἀεὶ εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας αἰώνας, ἀμήν
Final rubric: f. 343v Τέλος εἴληφεν ἡ πρώτη βίβλος τῆς ἑξαημέρου

TLG 2062.112

CPG 4409

PG 53, coll. 21-53, 580

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 1-157, 164-185, 192-311: parchment (FHHF), of variable thickness and medium quality.

Collation

The first part consists of 38 quires, of which one is a ternion and the rest are quaternia. The signatures suggest that another quire has been lost somewhere between Quires 3 and 7 (between f. 24 and f. 49), and there is a lacuna in the text between Quires 3 and 4, but this seems too brief to correspond to a full quaternion.

  • Quires 1-68 ff. 1-48
  • Quire 78-2 ff. 49-54 The first and fifth folios have been cancelled, without loss of text.
  • Quires 8-128 ff. 55-94
  • Quire 138-1 ff. 95-101 The fifth folio has been cancelled, without loss of text.
  • Quires 14-208 ff. 102-157
  • Quires 22-238 ff. 164-179
  • Quire 246 ff. 180-185
  • Quires 26-408 ff. 192-311

There are quire signatures in Greek numerals, in brown ink, on the last folio of each quire, recto, lower left or centre. They survive on quires 1-3, 7-20, 22-23, 26-40 (αʹ-γʹ, ηʹ-καʹ, κβʹ-κγʹ, κεʹ-λθʹ). There are also quire signatures in Arabic numerals, in pencil, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right. They survive on all quires except the first. Some errors have been made in this sequence and cancelled.

Condition

The leaves are lightly cockled. Part of f. 44 has been torn away with some loss of text. There are slits on some leaves (e.g. ff. 55, 64, 142, 185) and occasional stitched repairs (e.g. f. 185).

Layout

ff. ff. 1r-157v, 164r-185v, 192r-311v Two columns of 27 lines each. 215 × 175 mm. Pricking survives in all three margins, but some has been lost to cropping. Ruled in hardpoint, system Leroy 1, type Leroy 24C1. Text hangs from the lines.

Hand(s)

ff. ff. 1r-157v, 164r-185v, col. b, line 6, 192r-311v, col. b, line 27 were copied by Hand A in mixed minuscule script, slanting slightly to the right, in brown ink, with little variation in letter size.

Superscript word endings do not appear and syllabic abbreviations are not in use apart from the horizontal stroke for nu, which appears only at the end of lines. Breathings are angular and mute iota is adscript. Use of the double dot is functional only, and nomina sacra are accentuated only when more than three letters long or with enclitics. Circumflexes only rarely appear above breathings, and are not expanded when they do. The double grave accent and marginal quotation marks are in use.

Majuscule forms present include epsilon, zeta, eta, kappa, lambda, nu, xi, pi and sigma.

Punctuation used includes the lower, middle and upper points, question mark and full stop.

Headings are written in Alexandrine majuscule script in brown ink. Upsilon is in a V-shaped form, lacking the tail usual for this style of script.

f. 311v, col. b, lines 28-30 were copied by Hand C in mixed minuscule script, slanting to the right, in brown ink.

Decoration

Homilies begin with simple minor initials in red ink (e.g. f. 14v, 23r), in brown ink (e.g. ff. 184v, 217r), or in brown ink with red infill (e.g. ff. 192r, 204r). On ff. 68v, the original initial in red ink has been erased and replaced by one outlined in brown ink with red infill. Headings begin with normal letters, but an initial similar to those beginning the homilies has been added next the first letter of the heading on f. 1r.

The beginning of sections is marked by slightly enlarged initial letters in brown ink.

The transition between homilies is marked by line-fillers or vignettes in brown and red ink.

Additions

There are occasional ση(μεῖωσ)αι marks in the margins, drawing attention to particular passages, in the hand of the original scribe. The homily number is given in the upper margin on the first folio of each homily.

There are occasional brief marginal notes in Greek by a number of other hands (e.g. ff. 1r, 307r).

History

Origin: The original body of the manuscript was probably copied in the second half of the 10th century or first half of the 11th, most probably in the third quarter of the 10th century, as suggested by the style of script. It has previously been dated to the 12th century (James, p. 279; Aubineau, p. 30), but the general appearance of the script and particular features such as the uniform use of angular breathings and adscript mute iota, the absence of superscript word endings and near-total absence of syllabic abbreviations, the lack of accentuation on shorter nomina sacra , the rarity of circumflexes appearing above breathings and lack of expansion when they do so, indicate a date before the middle of the 11th century. The limited range of majuscule forms in use in the mixed minuscule script, including only letters whose majuscule forms had reappeared during the first half of the 10th century, suggest a date shortly after the middle of that century.

Part 2 [Cambridge, Trinity College, MS B.9.15, ff. 158-163, 186-191, 312-343]

Physical Description

Form: codex
Support: ff. 158r-163v, 186r-191v, 312r-f. 343v Western paper, folded in folio. Watermark: Mountains ( 28 × 28 mm. ) in the centre of the folio, similar to Briquet 11684. This example is dated to 1400.

Collation

This part consists of 6 quires, of which two are ternia and the rest are quaternia.

  • Quire 216 ff. 158-163
  • Quire 256 ff. 186-191
  • Quires 41-448 ff. 312-319

There are quire signatures in Arabic numerals, in pencil, on the first folio of each quire, recto, lower right, continuing the sequence from the first part of the manuscript. They survive on all quires. Some errors have been made in this sequence and cancelled.

Condition

There is significant water damage to ff. 312-343 mainly affecting the outer margin without any loss of text. There are also wormholes in this section which do not affect the text.

Layout

ff. 158r-163v, 186r-191v, 312r-f. 343v Two columns of 34-35 lines. 215 × 150 mm.

Hand(s)

ff. 158r-163v, 185v, col. b, line 6-f. 191v and ff. 312r-343v were copied by Gerardos (PLP 4142; RGK I 80; II 107; III 144) (Hand B) in mixed minuscule script with variable slant, in brown ink, with moderate variation in letter size. There are deletions by expunctuation.

Syllabic abbreviations and superscript word endings appear throughout the line, but usually at the end. Breathings are round and mute iota is subscript. There is decorative use of the double dot, and accentuation of all lengths of nomina sacra . Accents are sometimes joined to breathings and nomina sacra strokes. Marginal quotation marks are in use.

Punctuation used includes the middle and upper points, lower comma, question mark and full stop.

The sigma telikon is in use.

Headings are written in the same style in red ink.

Decoration

The beginning of the homily on f. 160r is preceded by a rectangular plaited headpiece in red ink.

Homilies begin with ornamented initials in red. The beginning of sections is marked by simple minor letters in red ink.

The transition between homilies is marked by vignettes in brown and red ink.

Additions

The homily number is given in the upper margin on the first folio of each homily.

There are occasional notes and pen-trials in Greek in the margin (e.g. f. 158r).

History

Origin: The replacement portions of the manuscript were copied by Gerardos (PLP 4142; RGK I 80; II 107; III 144) to replace losses to the original. They can be dated to the first half of the 15th century by the period of activity of the scribe, whose dated manuscripts were produced in 1420-1443.

Additional Information

Record Sources

Availability

Visitors to Trinity College who wish to consult Special Collections material are required to apply to the Library in advance of their visit. For information on eligibility and admission procedures see: Trinity College: Information for Readers.

Bibliography

    The western manuscripts in the library of Trinity College: a descriptive catalogue, James, M. R. (Cambridge, 1, Cambridge University Press, 1900) La provenance athonite des manuscrits grecs legues par R. Bentley a Trinity College, Cambridge et en particulier de l'oncial 0131 du Nouveau Testament Studies in the history and text of the New Testament in honor of Kenneth Willis Clark, Duplacy, Jean (Salt Lake City, 113-126, University of Utah Press, 1967) Codices Chrysostomici Graeci I Codices Britanniae et Hiberniae, Aubineau, Michel (Paris, CNRS éditions, 1968) A puzzle in stemmatic theory solved Revue d'Histoire des Textes, Wilson, Nigel G. (139-142, 1975, https://www.persee.fr/doc/rht_0373-6075_1975_num_4_1974_1107) Specimen eines Repertoriums der griechischen Kopisten Jahrbuch der österreichischen Byzantinistik, Gamillscheg, ErnstHarlfinger, Dieter (27, 293-322, 1978) Греческие рукописи с пометой Арсения Суханова в Кембридже Труды Отдела древнерусской литературы, Fonkič, B. (43, 304-305, 1993) Codices Chrysostomici Graeci VIII: I: Codices Ancyrae et Constantinopolis II: Addenda et Corrigenda ad volumina I-IV, Barone, Francesca P.Voicu, Sever J. (Paris, CNRS éditions, 2018)

Funding of Cataloguing

The Polonsky Foundation

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Cambridge Digital Library

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